CHARLESTON, S.C.(Jan. 11)--Maj. Gen. Earle E. Morris Jr., comptroller
general for the state of South Carolina and recently retired director of the
South Carolina State Guard, will be honored at Friday's dress parade of the
Corps of Cadets at The Citadel. The parade begins at 3:45 p.m. at Summerall
Field. Morris will be recognized for his dedicated service to the nation and
the state of South Carolina, which has spanned more than four decades.

"It hardly seems 43 years since I put on the Army uniform as a 'buck
private,'" Morris wrote in his "From the Director" column in the Dec. 1994
issue of SCSG News. "Very few are so fortunate as I have been to serve my
nation and my state for so long," Morris said.

Morris began his military service as a cadet at Clemson College, where
he received a bachelor of science degree in 1949. Following enlistment in the
South Carolina Army National Guard, he completed the Palmetto Military Academy
in 1951 and was commissioned a second lieutenant. Following a distinguished
career in the Army National Guard, Morris retired in 1987 as a brigadier general and became deputy director of the State Guard. In 1991, Morris assumed
command of the State Guard and was promoted to major general.

In civilian life, Morris is equally devoted to public service. He was
elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1950 at the age of
21, and served in the House until his election to the South Carolina Senate in
1954. Serving in the Senate until 1970, Morris became lieutenant governor in
1971. In 1976, Morris became comptroller general of South Carolina, and has
continued to be re-elected to the post. While serving as comptroller general,
he has received numerous awards and national recognition for distinguished
leadership in the field of governmental financial management.

In 1993, Morris was awarded the nation's Most Valuable Public Official
by City and State magazine. Morris has received honorary degrees from several
of South Carolina's colleges and universities, including an honorary doctor of
laws degree from The Citadel in 1983.

Morris is past president of the National Association of State Comptrollers, past chairman of the board of directors of the United Way of South Carolina, chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council of
the United States and past president of the South Carolina National Guard
Association